


Compunction

by Icanneverfacemyfamilyagain



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: "Had" being the operative here, Angst, Arthur had a crush on Lewis, Blood, Gore, Hellbent Aftermath, I wrote this instead of doing my homework, Impalement, M/M, Probably out of character but like what do we even really know about the characters anyway?, definitely angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 19:22:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16331966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icanneverfacemyfamilyagain/pseuds/Icanneverfacemyfamilyagain
Summary: Compunctionnoun"A feeling of guilt or morale scruple that follows the doing of something bad"Lewis Pepper got what he wanted.





	Compunction

Lewis Pepper had died quickly.  
  
It had not been a graceful death, or a happy one, but it had been fast- fast enough that he hadn’t even had time to realize what was happening until it was too late.  
  
He realized afterwards, of course. It was a lot easier to put two and two together when you find yourself staring with empty eye sockets at your own dead body, but he still hadn’t wanted to believe it for the longest time. Not the fact that he was dead, mind you- he made peace with that fairly quickly. No; what he absolutely did not want to accept was the cause of his death, even though he knew exactly what he had seen.  
  
Arthur, his best friend, face contorted in rage and hands held out from where they’d planted themselves against his unsuspecting back not seconds before. Lewis hadn’t wanted to believe it. He couldn’t believe it, not even when the evidence had been quite literally staring him straight in the face. But he had time.  
  
For months he paced, weak and half-formed, tethered to his rotting remains, in a state of despair. He would never see Vivi again, or his foster parents, or his little sisters, or Mystery, or Arthur… Arthur. Arthur. Arthur. Arthur. Despair gradually morphed into its much more convenient cousin: rage.  
  
Arthur did this to him. Arthur took him away from everyone he had ever loved. Lewis didn’t deserve to suffer like this, to die like this. It wasn’t fair that Arthur got to just continue on with his life after what he’d done. It wasn’t fair that no one would ever know how Lewis had really died. Hell, they might not even ever know that he was actually dead!  
  
Lewis’s rage continued to build and build, until he himself began to change. His ribs curled themselves around the outside of his spectral suit like talons, his empty eye sockets glowed bright with the same fire he found himself able to command, a physical manifestation of his soul beat gold above his chest, and he grew stronger. Strong enough to leave behind his decayed bones. Strong enough to summon little formless spirits who clustered around him, miniature hearts like his all beating to the same rhythm. Strong enough to create an entire mansion in his image. Strong enough to drag his old friends into his house of horrors and hunt down his killer.  
  
He would’ve caught the bastard too, if Vivi hadn’t gotten in his way. He’d forgotten how much he loved her, too caught up in his fury with Arthur to remember the way her eyes sparkled at the sight of a mystery, or how her hair always flipped up at the ends like a cartoon character’s, or how willing she was to throw herself into the fray if it meant saving her friends- he’d forgotten her. How could he have forgotten her?  
  
His heart broke, and they got away. His little spirits, “Dead Beats”, as he’d begun to call them, had tried to comfort him, but it hadn’t made much of a dent. His broken heart sat heavy in his hands, icey and lifeless, and he’d slipped away for weeks, numb and unable to muster up the energy he’d had before.  
  
He still had no idea what the deal with that tree woman was, but he supposed he had to thank her for waking him up. And for reminding him of what he had to do. Arthur was still out there, still with Vivi. What if he hurt her next? Or, what if he didn't hurt her? What if he lived out the rest of his life completely normally and no one else ever knew the kind of monster he really was? Lewis almost didn’t know what was worse, but what he did know was that he’d recognize his old van anywhere, and that Arthur was about to pay.  
  
The scrawny bastard looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, just as jittery and nervous as Lewis remembered him, and though he put up a decent effort trying to escape, Vivi wasn’t there to save him this time. The wreck had dazed him badly enough that it’d taken him a moment to notice what was happening, and Lewis had to admit that seeing the fear on Arthur’s face as he threw him into the back of truck was one of the most satisfying things he’d seen in his entire life.  
  
He had his Dead Beats chase him, trying to ignore the way his floating heart’s pace had increased at the sight of Arthur’s terrified scrambling. So what if he was excited? Lewis’s whole afterlife had been building up to this moment- he was allowed to enjoy himself a little.  
  
Arthur stopped just short of the cliff, looking relieved, and Lewis allowed him that moment to catch his breath before grabbing hold of his shirt and lifting him into the air. He turned Arthur around, of course, staring him dead in the eye as he walked over to the edge. He felt his fury building with every step and Arthur struggled, panting and flailing about, and he once again tried his best to ignore the undercurrent of satisfaction he felt as Arthur’s flesh hand gripped uselessly at his skeletal arm. He always had been weak.  
  
Lewis changed his face as he held Arthur over the edge, just before dropping him. He wanted him to see, to know who it was that would finally be his undoing. He’d been expecting fury or further terror, (hell, he’d kinda been hoping for further terror- it was good look on him), but he found himself taken off guard by the shocked expression on his former friend’s face.  
  
“Lewis?!” Arthur had shouted, and Lewis could’ve sworn he almost heard relief in his voice but before he could process it his grip had already loosened and Arthur fell. He didn’t look afraid, or angry, or horrified, just… confused, and maybe even a little heartbroken. And then he hit the bottom.  
  
When Lewis had fallen, his heart had been pierced and his neck snapped by the force of the sudden stop.  
  
Lewis Pepper had died quickly.  
  
Arthur Kingsmen did not.  
  
Lewis didn’t know what the difference was; whether it was the height of the fall or the fact that Arthur was lighter or the angle at which he fell or even just whatever forces that may be deciding upon it, but Arthur Kingsmen did not die quickly.  
  
Instead, a spike pierced him through the back and burst up through his stomach, splattering blood to the ground, and for a moment, Arthur was frozen, his face pale and his body so still that Lewis almost believed he’d gone out the same way- instantaneously, neck snapped and heart stopped.  
  
But then Arthur screamed. And he screamed. And he screamed, and despite his complete lack of internal organs Lewis felt nauseous. This was… This was…  
  
Hadn’t he wanted this? That thought gave him pause because honestly, the answer was yes: yes he had. In the months he’d spent furiously thinking about Arthur’s demise he knew for a fact that he had, on multiple occasions, wished it to be a terrible one. He hadn’t wanted Arthur to go quickly, he’d wanted him to suffer, but somehow he still found himself feeling… guilty?  
  
“H-help!!” Arthur shouted.  
  
But that couldn’t be right! Why on earth should he feel guilty?  
  
“Mystery?” Arthur called, his breathing heavy.  
  
Lewis had spent literally his entire afterlife dreaming of this moment!  
  
“Vivi?!” Arthur cried, sounding increasingly desperate.  
  
What the hell was wrong with him? Why would he feel bad about this? Arthur wasn’t even his friend anymore. Arthur fucking killed him. He deserved this. He deserved to-  
  
“ _Lewis!! _” Arthur sobbed, his voice anguished and wobbly. His golden heart skipped a beat and suddenly, without even meaning to be, Lewis found himself standing right in front of his former friend’s impaled body.__  
  
It was even worse up close. Blood dripped to the cavern floor from steady rivers on Arthur’s flesh all stemming from the jagged purple spike embedded in his stomach. Arthur had gone pale, his right arm shakily and uselessly pawing at the spike as if trying to remove it, his breath short and heaving, face soaked with both tears and sweat. He didn’t even seem to see the apparition beside him.  
  
The spike disappeared, responding to the unconscious command Lewis had made of it, sending Arthur’s body crashing to the ground with a sickening thud and Arthur wailed in pain, the fall having further aggravated the wound in his abdomen. He never did have a very high pain tolerance.  
  
Lewis just stood there. Staring. This was… horrible. Not like this. He hadn’t meant for it to be like this. Well, actually, he had, but he hadn’t known. Arthur’s eyes were screwed tightly shut, his chest rising and falling rapidly and through the gaping hole in his stomach Lewis swore he could see guts. In spite of the physical impossibility, the ghost was almost certain he was about to throw up. He shut his eyes, (or rather, shut off his vision, given he no longer had eyelids) and tried his best to block it out but Arthur’s pained crying still echoed throughout his skull and _oh god he’s still alive why is he still alive please god just let him die _.__  
  
“L-Lewis,” Arthur groaned, his voice noticeably weaker than it had been only moments ago and without thinking Lewis dropped to his knees beside him, placing a skeletal hand on his shoulder. Arthur’s eyes shot open and Lewis quickly threw his human facade back on as best he could.  
  
“...Lewis?” Arthur whispered, sounding like he didn’t believe it. “Y-you’re okay! I-I couldn’t… I couldn’t find you! Whe-where have you- _ack! _” Blood bubbled up in Arthur’s throat and out his mouth, effectively cutting him off as a horrible realization dawned upon Lewis. Had he… not known? How was that even possible! It shouldn’t be possible! But Arthur had always been a terrible liar, and the relief in his eyes upon seeing his old friend had seemed nothing short of genuine, so…__  
  
“Oh god,” Arthur whimpered, staring at the wound in his stomach as if he’d just now remembered it existed. “O-oh god, oh god, ohgodohgodohgodohgod- _hgrk! _” More blood choked him, shutting him up as he began to panic in earnest once again, his trembling right hand reaching towards his injury before Lewis grabbed it, squeezing it tight.__  
  
“D-don’t touch it,” Lewis muttered, the first words he’d spoken aloud in… a long time now.  
  
“Ah- _aaahhh! _” Arthur cried, the tears that had stopped earlier running down his face from wide, terrified brown eyes. Not knowing what else to do, Lewis pulled him closer, cradling the scrawny body against his torso. His hatred seemed to have vanished, replaced instead by a mounting sense of despair.__  
  
“Shhhhh,” Lewis tried, feeling Arthur’s chest heave against his own. Blood soaked into his suit, his body made fully corporeal for the moment in an attempt to appear as human as possible to his dying friend.  
  
“Lewis! Lewis it _hurts! _” Arthur sobbed, his hand weakly clutching at the fabric of Lewis’s jacket. He sounded so small, so terrified, and Lewis found himself wishing death upon Arthur for an entirely different reason. God, why couldn’t he have just gone instantly?__  
  
“Shhhh, shhh, I know,” Lewis whispered. He carded the fingers of his right hand through Arthur’s hair on a whim, hugging him closer and doing his best to ignore the blood. Arthur always had been the most touchy-feely out of the four of them, even more so than the actual dog, (well, Mystery wasn’t exactly a dog), especially when he was scared.  
  
What felt like hours but really could’ve only been a few minutes passed. Lewis’s human illusion was gradually fading but if Arthur noticed at all he didn’t seem to care. His breathing grew slower, his skin colder, his body heavier.  
  
“...Thank you… fr comin’ back…” Arthur mumbled, his voice so soft Lewis could barely hear it.  
  
“...Of course,” Lewis replied, unsure of what else to say. Yeah he ‘came back’- he ‘came back’ to do exactly this, but only because he’d had no idea of how horrible the reality of it would really be. He ‘came back’ to torment and abuse and finally kill the man who’d murdered him, and he’d honest to god enjoyed every minute of it, up until now, because now it was real and it was gruesome and it was wrong and it was too late for him to fix anything.  
  
“......Love you…” Arthur murmured, so quietly that Lewis almost believed he’d imagined it. When he looked down to try and confirm whether or not he’d actually heard what he just thought he’d heard however, he found himself looking into glassy brown eyes, wide open and staring right back at him, but no longer seeing a thing.  
  
His heart shattered.  
  
Arthur Kingsmen did not die quickly.  
  
Lewis Pepper got what he wanted.


End file.
